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Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Ask a Korean! News: Not All Jeff Meyers Hate Koreans

Perhaps the readers may remember Mr. Jeff Meyers from Australia, who won the "Hate the Korean" contest back in October. Well, Mr. Jeff Meyers from Los Angeles, California would not let the Jeff Meyers name slandered this way.

...and I'm married to a Korean gal. I'm enamored of kim chee, bibim bap, and all things Korean. I demand a retraction/clarification immediately -- not all Jeff Meyers are biased against Koreans!

Sincerely,Jeff Meyers

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Very well Mr. Meyers, the Korean is generally amenable to reasonable requests. So the Korean was getting ready to publish a clarification, when only hours later, the Korean received the following email:

Wow, what are the odds? Just when the Korean was about the vindicate the good name of all Korea-loving Jeff Meyers, the original Jeff Meyers fires out a random email out of the blue! Do all Jeff Meyers have a psychic communication through space and time? If these two Jeff Meyers touched each other, would their Korean preference explode into neutral?

Strangely, the Korean feels like Ask a Korean! has reached another level.

[Note for those who care about this kind of stuff: the LA-Jeff's email was fully redacted because his domain name gave away personal information, while Australia-Jeff's email was only partially redacted because the domain name gives away nothing.]

Got a question or a comment for the Korean? Email away at askakorean@hotmail.com.

I'd also like AAK! to note that not all Jeffs are racist blowhards. Reading from the Marmot' Hole, there's a troll named 'Jeffable', who is very well short of an able Jeff. I would like to see that this laughable bit of dogsick is not confused with the good Jeffs that read your blog.

Oh , the dink wipes all the comments . Wot's the matter gook ?Can't compete with the big dick westerners cos you are a pissant loser.Like 99% of your fellow countrymen ,you are afraid of comparisons cos you gooks will be exposed as total bottom feeders at almost every level .Then your fantasy of "We are Korean the center of the fuckin'universe" willdissipate.

Anyway Meyers , whom do you think you think you are? Nothing but a filthy gringo banging a gook .All your kind does is export terror ,debt and debauchery to the rest of the world.You are as bad as the gooks . They always complain about the Japs banging their grandmothers during the war and you never stop wining about 9/11. They deserved it cos they were too gutless to stand up to the Japs , and, you deserve what you got .What about the millions of people you bomb , torture , injure ,rape and murder to feather your own plastic nests . Dumb fucking fast food freaks think you can takeover the Muslim world. Grow a brain fuckwit . I cheer at the endless reruns of 9/11. Shut up and go pump your gook bitch . You better piss on it first to take away the stink of the kimchi.Maybe you better get 'charlie' to pump her up the arse , he's got a little dick and it won't hurt.Or, maybe you want to sell the slut for a few shares in GM and I can pimp her out .

Let's clear this Korean man thing up . There are three kinds of foreign woman who lower themselves for a gook 1. Poor South East Asians who become surrogate cows for gooks , to save their families back home . 2. Poor Russian girls cos gooks like to pretend they are western woman. BFWC's from the west. (BIG FAT WESTERN COWS) who can't get nothing in their own culture .

I am a Korean American. I came to US about 25 years ago when I was about 17 or 18 years old. So, I can say it had been a long journey understanding and adjusting to the US culture. Since I received early education in Korea, my tendencies are also very typical Korean. By "typical Korean" I mean, I can be blunt, straightforward, and not so considerate of other people’s feelings sometimes. We Koreans can be also seen as judgmental, rude, and conceded.

Judging by the comments posted by many, most will agree including my fellow Koreans. There is no doubt that many were hurt by ill-mannered Koreans. As a Korean, other Koreans have hurt me as well. For many years, I resented and ashamed of the fact I was a Korean. However, now that I am older and more experienced in life, I believe I have better perspective of why Koreans behave the way Koreans typically do with others as well as to each other.

When I was in Korea late 60s through early 80s, we were taught to obey elders and authority figures without questions. Media and the educational system constantly stressed this. This authoritarianism based on Confucianism is engrained deeply in Korean culture even now.

This ethical and philosophical system had shown tremendous impact and influence in ancient and modern Korea. In Confucianism there are several important teachings emphasized—virtues must be shown towards others, an individual place in society and loyalty towards each other. Confucianism emphasizes human relationships above anything else. It stresses a social harmony comes from every individuals knowing his or her place in the social order, and has to play his or her part. Specific duties are prescribed to each person in society. Perhaps this is why Koreans seem to be obsessed with a person’s age. By knowing one’s age, Koreans judge each other’s place in the society and the duties to one another. Confucianism assigns everyone a place in society and a proper form of behavior. To a Korean, it is impossible to behave properly with others until he or she knows the person’s placement in a society. This means, Koreans must know your age, job situation, or even weather you are married or not married, etc. in order to indicate to people their duty amongst others and what to expect from them.

In addition, the Confucian Koreans believe in cultivation of morality: It is our duty to keep each other’s in check. In other words, for Koreans, if I am your elder, teacher, authority figure, or a friend, it is my duty to keep you in line with what is considered moral in a society. Therefore, Koreans will criticize, and even punish those who are considered to be at an equal or a lower hierarchy. The Confucian belief combined with a long history of isolationism in Korea has made Koreans one of the most misunderstood and difficult people in the world.

Koreans will tell you straight up if you look bad. There isn’t a “white- lie” in Korean’s vocabulary. It is because most Koreans think they are helping you by being brutality honest. When a Korean tells you that we cannot be friends because of age difference, don’t be alarmed or think the person is rude. The word, friend has a different meaning to many Koreans; every relationship comes with a different set of rules and duties to each other to Koreans.

Even though, I tried to explain the culture of Korea, I do not wish for Koreans to continue with the Confucian Authoritarian ways in dealing with other cultures in this fluid, fast moving world. While Confucianism offers many positive qualities in dealing with one another, its teachings limit in ways to tolerate and accept of one another. If Koreans want to continue to grow and respected by other cultures, we must learn to open our eyes to see how others see us.

ASK THE KOREAN HERE

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About TK

The Korean is a Korean American living in Washington D.C. / Northern Virginia. He lived in Seoul until he was 16, then moved to Los Angeles area. The Korean refers to himself in the third person because he thinks it sounds cool.